Back to the Past
by ButterBlume97
Summary: Because of an unfortunate accident, 17-year-old Tom Riddle travels to the future. He arrives in Hogwarts in 1997, when the magical world is afraid of the most powerful dark wizard of all times. Tom is fascinated of You-Know-Who – without knowing that it is him. What will happen if he finds out who he has become? And will Dumbledore finally succeed in saving Tom Riddle's soul?
1. Prologue

**Hey guys,**

**this is another try of mine to translate one of my stories. The original isn't finished yet, so I can't promise you to finish this story, but I will do my best.**

**I hope you like it :)**

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Tom had decided to find it out. He had to know if it would work. And if he had planned something, he did it, no matter how hard it might be.

It was a good plan. He had worked on it in secret every night for weeks. A few times, Dumbledore had almost caught him in one of the corridors, but in the meantime he knew a way to stay in the dark. Even the teachers did not know about everything that happened at their school.

In the beginning, Tom did not know if it would work. There was only the idea. If you were able to overcome the space, could you not also be able to travel through the time? At least it should be possible in theory.

Awestruck, Tom placed his hand on the floor of the Vanishing Cabinet. A faint light shone inside from the Room of Requirements. It was time.

Slowly Tom retreated from the Cabinet and started to prepare everything. He put away his slytherin-green robe and put on the black traveling cloak he had brought here weeks ago, when his experiments had begun to be successful.

It was still hard to evaluate the distance. For a short distance, just a few minutes, it was okay. But how would it work for the time he had planned?

There was no other choice, Tom had to try.

He was prepared for everything when he began to murmur the old, secret words.


	2. Chapter 1

**Maybe you have seen that I replaced this chapter. Somehow all of the line breaks were gone and it was really hard to read, so I re-uploaded it.**

**I hope you like it :)**

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Tom moaned. When he opened his eyes, everything was spinning around him. His head was throbbing.

He tried to lean on his arm and feel back with a short cry. He took a look at his arm and saw the bone sticking out unnaturally. Not very good.

Carefully, Tom sat up and looked for his wand. He found it in one of the pockets of the cloak. He took a relieved breath when he got hold of it.

He healed his arm quickly, but he would need a healing potion against the headache. He stood up and brushed the dust from his cloak. Now he could finally take a look around.

The Room of Requirements looked just the same as when Tom had left it. There were tons of things at the walls that someone had hidden here centuries ago. He found a few things which he had had to get rid of himself. That was good; at least he had not gone back in time. That had not happened before, but _in theory_, it had to be possible as well.

But was he really in the future? And how far? There were some things he didn't know, but maybe he hadn't noticed them before. Unfortunately, he had to leave the room to find it out.

The corridor was empty. Through a window, Tom could see the sun rising. The lands were covered in snow. He could not be in the present anymore; it had been May when he left. There couldn't be that much snow in May, not even in Scotland.

Suddenly he heard voices coming closer. He retreated to a niche and tried to merge in the darkness. A really useful talent, he thought.

Two girls approached him. One of them was talking really fast, something about a guy named Snape and a homework. She seemed to be quite angry. With her long red hair floating around her face, she looked like a furie.

The other one had brown, curly hair and an arrogant expression. She was carrying a stack of books and told the other girl that she should have started with her homework earlier. The typical nerd.

Tom was worrying a bit that he didn't know the girls. They were his age, so he had to know them, even if they were a bit younger than him. They had to be in Hogwarts already in his time, hadn't they? He couldn't have traveled so far ahead…

As soon as they had passed him, Tom stepped out into the corridor. "Hey," he called. The girls stopped and turned over to him.

"Who are you?" the nerd asked. "I have never seen you here before."

"My name is Tom," he said. Now he needed a good excuse really fast, he hadn't thought of the possibility that no one would recognize him. "I don't remember how I got here. I feel like there is something black in my head. I can't reach my memories."

The girl's expression changed from arrogant to worried. "Okay, we will get you to the Hospital Wing." She reached out as if she wanted to take his arm, but she didn't do it in the end. Maybe she had realized that Tom wasn't keen of being touched by complete strangers.

He followed her and her friend to the Hospital Wing, which still seemed to be in the same place as it had been during his time at school. He compared Hogwarts now to the school he knew. There had been no changes at all, as far as he could see it.

The Hospital Wing was deserted. An elderly lady, presumably the nurse, approached them as soon as they arrived. "Who are you?" she asked, just like the nerd has earlier. "I haven't seen you here yet."

The nerd began talking immediately. "We found him in front of the library," she said. "We don't know him either. He said he couldn't remember how he got here."

The nurse shot a piercing look at him. Tom tried hard not to blink and was relieved when she finally looked away and shrugged. "Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, please go and get the headmaster if he is available. Otherwise try to find one of the teachers. Maybe someone knows him."

The nerd nodded and left with her red-headed friend. In the meantime, the nurse led Tom to a bed and urged him to lie down. Well, that could take some time…


	3. Chapter 3

Tom opened his eyes when the door of the Hospital Wing was opened. He blinked. The scene he saw was still the same. That couldn't be… Could that old man with the silly hat be Professor Dumbledore, his Transfiguration teacher?

The old man winked at him. "Poppy, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, could you please leave us alone for a minute?"

They followed his request immediately. Dumbledore conjured a chair and sat down next to Tom's bed. "Now, this is very interesting," he said.

"May I know who you are, Sir?" Tom asked coldly.

Dumbledore smiled. "I thought you would recognize me, Tom. Or do I look too old?" He winked again.

Tom was already annoyed. "You have become Headmaster by now? Congratulations, Sir."

"You know that you charm has never worked with me, Tom. Yes, I have been Headmaster for a few years. I would be happy if you could answer a few of my questions. For example, I am very curious how you got here."

Tom thought about it for a moment. He must have traveled far more ahead than he had thought he had. "I can't remember," he said finally.

"I have to say I don't really believe you, Tom," Dumbledore said. "I would really like to know how this is possible. And why are you so much… younger?"

"Why younger?" Tom asked. "I'm sixteen."

"Yes, well… I haven't seen you like this for a long time." Dumbledore smiled. "What year is it?"

Tom tried to think of some excuse, but he decided that he wouldn't be able to keep something from Dumbledore anyway. "1943," he said.

"Oh. So it's your sixth year in Hogwarts, isn't it? Today is the 15th January, 1997. Are you surprised?"

Well, sure he was! 53 years? That was impossible! Dumbledore seemed to have expected him being stunned. He patted his arm soothingly.

"It's good, Tom," he said. "It's okay. I suspect you only wanted to jump a few months ahead."

Tom nodded slowly. "I didn't think it was even possible that a journey that far was even possible. It shouldn't be more than a year."

"Well…" Dumbledore seemed to be thinking. "It has been sometime since I have read something about this kind of magic. As far as I know, there is no safe way black." He watched Tom with his ice-blue eyes.

"Why not?" Tom wanted to know. "I only have to get back to the Vanishing Cabinet and do the spell again."

"That won't be easy…," Dumbledore said. "All of these devices have been destroyed."

"What? Why?" Horrified, Tom looked at his teacher. The Cabinet was his only chance to get back! And if it was really destroyed, he might be stuck here forever.

"I'm sorry, Tom." Dumbledore smiled a little sadly. "Maybe we should start to think of an explanation why you are here."

Half an hour later, Dumbledore said goodbye – again with this annoying wink. "I am sure we will meet again, Tom. After all, Hogwarts is a small place. My deputy will accompany you to your house and introduce you to your fellow students. I expect you to abide the rules. Remember that if I have to expel you, your chance to get back is even smaller."

Tom nodded. The whole thing was slowly starting to freak him out, especially since Dumbledore had told him about the war that was going on in these times. Apparently, a dark wizard named You-Know-Who had started a war against the magic population of Great Britain. Many people were living in fear of him and his followers.

Tom had often imagined him to be in this place in the future. He had imagined how it would be to see all those filthy Mudbloods standing in front of him and begging for mercy…

Now, fifty years later, no one talked about him anymore. Maybe this You-Know-How had defeated him. He had to be very powerful. Tom didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. Probably not good.

An elderly woman with a strict expression who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall came to get him. She led him up a few stairwells. Wait, why were they going upstairs? Was the house of Slytherin not located in the dungeons anymore? Didn't they have to walk downstairs?

When they stopped in front of the portrait of a fat lady, Tom's fears became true. "Gryffindor?" he asked. "He really puts me into Gryffindor?"

McGonagall's expression darkened. "It is not common that students arrive in the middle of the school year." She looked at him meaningfully. "You will be in the sixth grade. Your schedule and your books are all prepared. Heaven knows how the Headmaster has known that."

Oh, Tom didn't think that Dumbledore had _predicted_ anything. He was only good at pretending he was holding all the strings.

Professor McGonagall muttered something that sounded like _Abstinence _(those Gryffindors had really strange passwords) and the portrait swung to the side. Behind it, Tom could see the familiar furnishings of the Gryffindor Common room. The morning sun was shining through the windows and lighted the old tables and armchairs. Some of them had already existed when Tom went to school. He hadn't been here very often, but even then it had looked worn out. And Gryffindors tended to call that cosy…

Only a few students were awake this early on a Saturday. The girls he had met earlier sat at a table, bent over books. When they saw their teacher entering, they stood up and approached them.

"Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, this is Tom Elridd. He will be in your grade, Miss Granger. Could you please introduce him to the others and show him everything? Thank you." McGonagall turned around and left. Left Tom with the two girls who were staring at him.


End file.
